Section: Liz Benjamin

ICYMI, this was in today’s morning memo: There’s a lot of activity surrounding Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act, with advocates and opponents of abortion rights engaged in an intense battle over what they think the governor might propose. Other than the fact that Cuomo said during his State of the State address that his… …

Queens Councilman Dan Halloran, who has been charged with participating in Sen. Malcolm Smith’s scheme to bribe his way into the NYC mayors race, announced this afternoon that he won’t seek re-election this fall so he can devote his time to “clearing my name and restoring my reputation. “It has been the greatest honor to… …

Happy May Day! Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in Albany. He’ll hold a cabinet meeting in the Red Room on the second floor of the state Capitol at 11 a.m. At 9 a.m., LG Bob Duffy discusses “The Rise of the Role of Lieutenant Governor in New York” as part of law firm Stroock & Stroock… …

President Obama backed the F.B.I.’s handling of a Russian intelligence tip about a Boston Marathon bombings suspect, even as his intelligence chief ordered a review of whether the attack could have been prevented. In a precedent-setting case, the state’s highest court said parents do not forfeit their rights to see their children just because they are in prison. AFT… …

Somewhat out of the blue, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (which did meet earlier today) just released the following statement: “In February, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics issued a Substantial Basis Investigation Report to the Legislative Ethics Commission for its review under Legislative Law §80. Pursuant to statutory mandate, if the Legislative Ethics… …

Sen. Ted Cruz, the controversy-courting, Tea Party-backed conservative from Texas who is starting to get mentioned as a potential 2016 contender even though he has only been in office since January, will headline the state GOP’s annual dinner in New York City next month. The $1,000-a-head event will be held on May 29 at the… …

New York’s largest public employees union, CSEA, seized on state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s report earlier today that overtime continues to increase at the state agencies as an opportunity to slam Gov. Andrew Cuomo for failing to keep staffing at adequate levels. “The Cuomo administration continues to purposely understaff state agencies and mandate overtime to a… …

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in Albany with no public schedule. From 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., AFT President Randi Weingarten criticizes the timing of testing as part of the new Common Core standards while speaking at the ABNY breakfast; Grand Hyatt New York hotel, 109 E. 42nd St., Manhattan. JCOPE is meeting at 10:30 a.m.,… …

ICYMI, this was today’s Morning Memo: When are politicians going to learn: It’s the hypocrisy that gets you every time. Back in 2008, when the New York Times dropped the bombshell about Eliot Spitzer’s predilection for prostitutes, the state was cast into a state of anxious limbo as the governor holed up in his Upper… …